“The girls won the FVC as freshmen and now as seniors,” Kaplan said as the race day concluded at Veterans Acres Park in Crystal Lake.  Huntley totaled 76 points to edge Crystal Lake South’s 83. Crystal Lake Central was third, 98, McHenry had 99 and Cary-Grove rounded out the top five with a 101 score.

Nitz outran the field to win first place to set up momentum heading into the Class 2A Regional meet at Macheseney Park Harlem Oct. 22. Qualifiers move on to the Lake Park sectional in Roselle Oct. 29.

“We talked about Nitz winning the FVC race and he went out and did it today,” Red Raiders coach Matt Kaplan said.

The rain and wind had died down by the time James Lang’s take away prevented the Chargers from making it a one-score deficit in the final minutes of Huntley’s 31-19 triumph Oct. 14.

Huntley improved to 7-1, 7-1 FVC, and remained in a three-way tie with Jacobs and Prairie Ridge. The HHS senior night game is next against Crystal Lake South (5-3, 5-3) Oct.

“I’ll miss all the energy you get when you play here,” senior co-captain Micah Overly said.  “It’s the last home match so we wanted to come in and give it our all.”

“It’s always fun to end the season on an exciting note,” Huntley coach Matt Lewandowski said.

The Red Raiders called upon its reserves to fill in for starting middle blocker Emily Willis due to an illness and setter Maggie Duyos, who injured a knee. Pinch hitting were seniors Kendall Gallaugher and Madelyn Moran at middle blocker and junior Laura Boberg at setter  Huntley did not miss a beat in improving to 21-4 overall, 15-0 FVC.

“I’m excited –  it was a great tournament,” HHS coach Barry Wells said. “We were able to do better than our seeds at all positions and that’s not easy. They showed they cared and cheered for each other.”

It is on to the Class 2A Rockford Harlem sectional Oct.

“It was a great week and the theme was to focus on the game (with the homecoming activities going on),” Huntley coach Mike Naymola said.

Huntley remains tied in a three-team battle for the Fox Valley Conference title with Jacobs and Prairie Ridge with 6-1, 6-1 records with two games left in the regular season.

HHS head cross country coach Matt Kaplan summed up Breanna and Brittney Burak’s seasons prior to the Oct. 15 Fox Valley Conference meet at Veterans Acres in Crystal Lake. They are the daughters of Dan and Sonia Burak.

“This season has been a lot of fun watching Breanna Burak and Brittney Burak compete,” Kaplan said.

The Red Raiders scored six unanswered goals for a 6-1 win over Hampshire in Fox Valley Conference action Oct. 4. The victory was a response to a 3-2 double overtime loss to Crystal Lake Central three days earlier.

“We came out with a chip on our shoulder. It (CLC) was a hard loss, but we did not let it get us down,” junior Hudson Nielsen said.

Red Raiders golfers Brendan Busky and Nathan Elm both carded rounds of 75 but fell just one stroke shy of qualifying for the Class 3A state tournament at the Dundee-Crown sectional Oct. 3.

Huntley coach Collin Kalamatas praised Busky, a senior and Elm, a junior, for their season-ending efforts.

“Busky and Elm played so well,” Kalamatas said.

HHS sophomore Maddie Sloan fired a 95 (48th place) while junior Kylie Szymczak turned in a 100 score (74th) and senior Abby Panier shot a 106 (90th). The four qualified out of the Belvidere Class 2A regional Sept. 29.

“We had four golfers qualify for sectional which made us very proud,” HHS assistant coach Lindsey Allen said.

The victory over the Trojans (3-3, 3-3 FVC) came down to the final C-G possession, a march of 60 yards inside the HHS 10. Then HHS came up with the needed stops.

HHS totaled 82 points in the Oct. 1 girls race and the boys gained sixth place at the Detweiller Park, which is also the girls and boys state cross country meet course on Nov. 5.

“I’m really pleased with the performances from our teams at Peoria,” Huntley cross country coach Matt Kaplan said. “Our girls team set a goal of finishing in the top three and went out and ran amazing.

HHS’s clincher was a 5-2 win over Cary-Grove Sept. 28 following a 7-0 shutout of Dundee-Crown. Another shutout, 7-0 over Crystal Lake South, wrapped up home meets Sept. 29. HHS’s record stood at 8-0 in FVC, 17-1 overall.

Red Raiders head coach Barry Wells commented on the league crown and this weekend’s (Oct. 7-8) FVC Tournament at Crystal Lake Central and Cary-Grove.

“When we graduated six varsity starters last year I wasn’t sure what to expect this year,” Wells said.

HHS senior Maggie Duyos reached 1,000 assists in her career Sept. 27 at McHenry. It occurred on a pass to Ally Panzloff for a kill late in the second set of a 25-20, 25-11 win.

Duyos did not stop there, with a 14-assist night(nine service aces) in a 25-15, 25-8 win over Prairie Ridge Sept. 29. She and mom Julie were presented with a volleyball prior to the win over the Wolves.

“It was a very good day for us,” HHS coach Barry Wells said. “Auburn is a very good team and we will see them again at sectional. Hopefully we can get the better of them there.”

The Red Raiders’ second doubles team of Emily Chong and Delaney Stock posted a 3-0 tournament and first place.

HHS (8-4-1) was led by Isaac Jacobo as the senior scored a goal and had two assists.

The Red Raiders scored three goals in the first half goals. Junior Gavin Eagan tallied first as the junior took a pass from Jacobo 18 minutes in.

The HHS victory gave each team a 4-1 record, 4-1 FVC, through five games and reignited a league race for the championship. Almost all of the league can now shoot for the FVC crown, including the Red Raiders’ next foe, Cary-Grove (3-2, 3-2 FVC), on the road Sept. 30. Jacobs (4-1, 4-1 FVC) was ranked third in Class 7A.

Another significant aspect of the night was that the Red Raiders honored the memory of longtime youth football coach Larry Cariato.

HHS and Cary-Grove tied with tournament team scores of 322. Jacob Gordus’ 86 as the fifth score tiebreaker gave Huntley the championship. The co-leaders edged Prairie Ridge by three shots. The overall league crown winner was determined later in dual meets but HHS’s record gained third place.

“It was good to get a preview of the sectional meet here and send a message we are a contender for the regional championship,” HHS coach Collin Kalamatas said.

The Red Raiders came home with the tournament championship. McHenry won the conference trophy, due to a better dual match record.

“We’re a young team, having graduated 12 seniors the last couple of years but we’re peaking at the right time the last couple of weeks,” Huntley coach Ann Christiansen said.

HHS totaled 377 strokes to win by one shot over McHenry  Sept.